Light Red
by Pretenders
Summary: Fear could no longer accept defeat from hope. Murdering hope's courage was the answer. Slight romance. Proofread. Rated M for death. Part of the Light series.


_**Thank-you for noticing this story! Scanned and read twice for any errors.**_

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**Light Red**

Out of three powerful brothers, she never doubted he would be the last to break. Red surrounded not only his appearance, but as well as his eyes that refused to bleed out his deepest thoughts to the world. He was born as a young boy to lead his brothers to deal out disaster, and raised to become a young man with no remorse. The amount of control he held over his emotions made her believe all emotions named in the world didn't once exist in his heart. Perhaps, not even a heart beat beneath his chest. Townsville was a place of catastrophe and only became a place of utter terror with his arrival. Every citizen spoke of his name in a whisper while she, Blossom Utonium, voiced it out powerfully to the world: Brick.

As leader of a team of super powered girls, the Powerpuff Girls, Blossom never once let fear buckle her knees, let alone speed her heart rate. She looked fear straight in the eyes on countless encounters. Fear was born in his eyes, and it would forever live in his eyes. It lived to fight against the good in the world that threatened it. Her pink eyes that held hope for the world made fear angry; it made fear become malicious. Townsville held onto the form of hope in their three heroines. The power of light clashed with the power of darkness. One side never proved greater than the other, each side refusing to realize the equal power of the opposite side. It only build the determination in Blossom, while it fueled the murder in Brick.

Only one obstacle stood in his way: Blossom. She was the reason he never claimed victory over Townsville. True hatred clawed at her from the surface of his cruel heart. But in the depths of a cruel heart, something faint prevented the release of his hatred. The potential of its release could result in an act far worse than the fear he portrayed. If he wanted victory, he needed to destroy the one thing that made her mighty. Being her greatest enemy had its benefits, proving that throughout all their encounters, only one man gave her the courage to stand up before him. That man's face became a staple in his mind. Before he set forth to end the life to Blossom's courage, he took one glance at his reflection in a puddle the storm created, staring for a split second into his eyes of murder.

The whole night proved restless for Blossom. She tossed, turned, and sighed repeatedly until she could no longer lay in her bed. She sat up, covering her face with her hands. Something kept her up, but there was no natural cause. Shivers ran throughout her body, and she wondered if it was a warning in some sense. She held herself as she rubbed her arms up and down. The warmth comforted her for quite some time. Her eyes shut against their own will. Sleep almost washed completely over her until she realized she felt too alone to sleep. An invisible pull reached for her hands, leading her into the pitch of the hallway. The storm behind her fell upon the windows, casting mutltiple shadows of the rain through the light that seeped into the hallway.

The light barely lit the outline of a figure standing at the top of the steps. Her heroine instincts failed to recognize the familiarity of eyes of blood. All sleep vanished, and before her heroine intincts came to, a bolt of incredible red speed launched itself toward her. She didn't remember hearing the sound of broken glass, or the feel of the rain against her face. But she felt the ice touch of his hand around her neck, blocking her breaths with a touch cold enough to burn. Tree branches scratched at her sides, leaving her arms red with open wounds. There were too many branches cutting at her arms for her to still be in Townsville. He had taken her in a split second to the darkness of the woods, far from her home. She felt her head impact into the ground first, the power of the impact creating a hole in the wet soil.

Soil turned into mud around her. Rain seeped into her nostrils, making her jolt up into a series of harsh coughs. Her injuries stung at her arms as her head beat with a rough ache. The world around her became darker than she'd ever witnessed. Panic arose when she recalled everything that happened. Her bare feet sinked into the mud as she stood up, limping out of the hole. She used all her energy to float above the ground, hoping that she'd recover quick enough to fly home.

He returned to the home, arriving to see a light on in the hallway. He entered through the broken window in sync with the blue sister who stepped out of her room. She looked the other way, calling out Blossom's name. She was too late to turn to face Brick when he hit her head with enough power to knock her out. He knew the sound of her head hitting the wall would wake the last sister, the most aggressive one. After many fights with Blossom, his senses around him heightened incredibly, that he already sensed her fist coming toward him from behind. He moved swiftly as he reached out for her hair, yanking her short loose strands downward. Her head fell back and she bit her lip, using her fist to connect to his jaw. He caught it in mid air, staring intensely into her green eyes. She connected her knee to his abdomen, making him release her black locks.

"So this is how Brick claims a victory, by sneaking in the night when his enemies are vulnerable in their sleep," she spit out through a hiss, "Well not _me_,"

He held his head down the whole time, manipulating her into believing she made him weak. She flew toward him without any strategy, only aggression. Her fists came forward, while he prepared for the final blow that would be dealt by him. He sprung up, stopping her by the neck, banging her body against the wall. It cracked around her body, and he brought his head against hers quickly. She followed suit with her sister, and he let her limp body fall to the ground. He was fully aware of the spectator witnessing the attacks in shock. He turned to face him, his eyes fixed on his target. The older man stared at his daughters, falling to his knees at a sight that only lived in nightmares.

Brick never murdered a man in his life. He never once had the intention. Tonight was only the beginning of a rush he knew would silence his losses and give life to an incredible victory. The claws within his heart clawed harder, starving for more tragedy to feed the life of hope. He walked before the man who gave hope its courage, and without remorse, without remembering how sinister his eyes looked staring back at him, his eyes glowed red, attacking the man at the neck. The laser cut through clean, allowing the blood to seep out almost instantly. Another limp body fell to the ground. Murder happened so quickly, while the feeling after felt as if it would last a lifetime.

"No!"

He didn't turn to face the voice of hope.

Her voice became fragile, "_No, _you _couldn't _have...," breaking away before she could finish.

Never once did he turn to look at her, staring at the man who layed on the ground, lifeless. She came running into his line of view. Her arms encricled around the dead man, holding him close to her. Her lips trembled as muted words came out. This vision of hope being crushed among the fear of death made him realize the truth of victory. _This_ before him was _true _victory. Defeating her hope through her courage was the victory he always dreamt of.

But it wouldn't last.

As he focused on the victory, he didn't realize how still she stood. They faced each other, staring into the eyes of the other. She surprised him when she took a step closer, then another—she didn't stop—until they were only inches a part. Her eyes looked through him, as if she had the _courage _to face him. But her courage was _dead_, he had _killed_ her courage. The way she looked at him should have _died. _Yet there she was, staring at him with the upmost courage she always harbored in each encounter. Her courage still lived. He hadn't murdered anything; he hadn't calimed victory.

If only her eyes could become dim and cold. Staring into the light sickened him. It made him ill, confused, and enraged. It made the claws in his heart succumb to the silent hesitation in the depths of his cruel heart. Her eyes were the only eyes that made him look twice into the light. They held the form of hope, they gave hope to Townsville. But they wouldn't give him hope, he wouldn't allow them. She couldn't give hope to fear. He _feared _the possibility. He _hated _her deeply for being the one thing that could make him _fear_. If he couldn't kill her courage, then he needed to kill her hope.

He attackd first, lunging at her. She quickly fought back, the sudden fight making her tears stop abruptly. The two powerful leaders swung at each other, failing to land a blow. He wouldn't allow her to hit him first. He was determined to put a rest to hope once and for all. Her injuries slowed down her reaction rate, giving him more opportunity to land the first hit. Her injuries did just that. He landed the first blow, taking her by the arm as she slowed down taking a blow by his fist, slamming her against a wall. The force made a hole in the wall. She fell against the hard surface of the broken wall, moving out of the way of another fist just in time. His fist hit the wall, and the miss only angered him more.

She took the opportunity to elbow him in his side. He growled at her connection, grabbing her hair to prevent her from getting out of his reach. He kneed her in the back, making her cough, then proceeded to turn her onto her back, holding her down by climbing on top of her. His next intention was to beat her to her death, but before his fists began, her arms, weak and bloody from the scratches, reached out to place her hands on the sides of his face. The touch was so foreign his fists stopped in their place.

She could barely breath after his blow to her back, "_Stop_,"

She closed her eyes due to the pain. He growled, bringing back murder to his fists, bringing them just inches before her face when she breathed out once more.

"_Stop,"_

They stopped in their place, frozen as he realized she caught his eyes in her own. Her hands never left the sides of his face as she stared at him. The silence between them made the rain outside seem louder than what it really was. Time froze for the two. Brick didn't understand why he couldn't bring his fist to hit her, he didn't understand how her eyes could manage to control him better than himself. His forehead wrinkled as his anger rised.

"_Stop," _she moved her hands to run her fingers across his forehead, never once breaking away her touch. Although she only felt fear staring into his eyes, she felt enough hope to overcome it. If Brick knew just how much courage fear gave her, he would leave Townsville. She knew Brick would never allow fear to be the reason for the power his enemy had. By the look of the expression on his face, she knew just what was going through his head. It confused her, too. The first time she remembered staring into the eyes of fear, the eyes of blood, she couldn't understand the power it had over her.

Yet she held onto the hope that one day fear would erase itself from his eyes. That was the hope only he could see. As she touched his face, she silently forgave him. The tragedy would never leave her. Brick didn't touch her, he only stared. He dropped his fists, never leaving or breaking their stare. In his mind, he pieced together her courage. He knew who gave her courage, and he loathed every sense it made. _Fear _gave her hope. He finally tore away, ripping her hands off of him. He broke through a nearby window, flying as far as he could from her. The silent hesitation in his heart became so alive, he could feel it claw at his heart. He couldn't let his heart find hope, for _hope _was the reason for his fear.

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**I hope you enjoyed the story. This is only one version of three for this pairing. I couldn't decide which one to post, which is why it took so long for me to upload for this series, so I had friends read the three versions and this one is the one they liked the most. **

_**This story is inspired by, "Blind" by Hurts.**_

_**Have a wonderful day!**_


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